I wouldn't even go as far as putting a monetary value on it. I would consider middle class as a person/couple/family that are able to live fairly comfortably on their current salary, without having to live beyond their means. A little debt is ok, but not to the point where one or two more falls and the only means to get out is to declare bankruptcy.

But there are so many things to consider when defining a "middle class". Does it divide into 3 sectors (Lower, Middle, Upper)? Do you include the working class? Do you use a salary to define it? Can you live paycheck to paycheck and still be considered Middle Class?

I wouldn't even go as far as putting a monetary value on it. I would consider middle class as a person/couple/family that are able to live fairly comfortably on their current salary, without having to live beyond their means. A little debt is ok, but not to the point where one or two more falls and the only means to get out is to declare bankruptcy.

But there are so many things to consider when defining a "middle class". Does it divide into 3 sectors (Lower, Middle, Upper)? Do you include the working class? Do you use a salary to define it? Can you live paycheck to paycheck and still be considered Middle Class?

Excellent point. I mean you have lots of couples who have combined income of 200K but lots of expenses (expensive homes, cars, edu. loans, kids, etc). Look a the SF bay area, it's almost impossible to survive with less than 100K in salary.

In my experience, the majority of Americans seem to live paycheck to paycheck, whether they are making $15,000 per year or $150,000 per year. People's "needs" tend to increase as fast as their incomes.

I would guess most people consider the $30,000 to $70,000 range for middle class. $30,000 may even be a little low to be considered 'middle'.

It gets *very* fuzzy when you start factoring in cost of living, too. Like the firefighter in NYC that makes $90k. Is he then, upper class? I would bet he doesn't think so. Or the guy in SW VA who makes $60k? He is in your middle class designation, but he lives very comfortably, comparatively.

It's very subjective. It's all about cost of living, marital status, lots of things. There are probably a lot of people who make two-hundred thousand plus and could be considered poor. What is poor anyway?

I think you have to have some subsets of the broad sweeping term middle class. You have the people who make lots of money, but spend without any regard for the future, and therefore are broke most of the time. There are the people who might make less than what we could consider middle income, but are frugal with their cash, live comfortably (by their definition) and still have cash put away.

__________________Regret nothing. At one time it was exactly what you wanted.

I don't know that the term 'middle class' can be defined accurately, but I would venture to say that natural psyche of Americans would generally lead them to believe that the upper class consists of anyone making more than they do.

As cpayne noted, if I were single and making 85K here in SW Virginia, I would be living like a king easily. Now if I were stupid enough to buy a 50K+ car and a 500K home and eat out at high dollar restaurants everynight then I would probably have very little spending cash (savings) thus I may think that I'm not doing so well.

It's all boils down to how you decide to spend your money and where you live.